Justice Mugambe: The woman in the storm

The foreign affairs ministry has initiated last-minute attempts to save embattled Justice Lydia Mugambe, who was convicted of modern slavery and forced labour in a British court.

New Vision on March 16, 2025, confirmed that efforts were underway to engage the UK government over her predicament, ahead of her sentencing on May 2. Foreign affairs ministry permanent secretary Vincent Bagiire declined to comment on the matter.

Was it a planned case?

The conviction of Mugambe, according to observers, could be a culmination of a well-choreographed scheme to make the alleged victim secure permanent residency in the UK, without realising the consequences on Mugambe, the person who took her.

Mugambe, 49, a high flyer in the Ugandan judiciary, had moved to the UK to pursue a PhD in law at the prestigious University of Oxford.

While the prosecution painted her as an exploitative figure who misused her authority to manipulate and control a vulnerable individual, others argue that the case was part of another person’s quest to change immigration status.

Sources suggest Mugambe could have been a victim of a deliberate scheme, not necessarily to secure a conviction, but to benefit an individual seeking a UK residency.

With emerging inconsistencies in the narrative and credibility of the accuser, the question that emerges is: was this a genuine case of modern-day slavery, or the judge was simply a victim of manipulation?

Relationship with victim

To manage personal affairs, Mugambe reportedly enlisted the help of a trusted domestic worker, a youthful lady only identified as Aidah, who had been with her family in Uganda for years.

Being a relative (cousin), Mugambe had reportedly supported the young lady’s family financially, according to a source who spoke to New Vision.

“It was a long-standing relationship that, by all accounts, should have been based on mutual respect and gratitude. However, things took an unexpected turn after the young lady met some people in the UK who may have convinced her to report a case of alleged enslavement to the authorities to secure residency in the UK,” the source said.

Under UK law, individuals who can prove they were trafficked or exploited are often fast-tracked to legal status, including protection from deportation.

Was there forced labour?

The young lady was an adult with full mobility and independence, yet the prosecution said she was held in conditions amounting to servitude.

A family member wondered how someone working in a household with access to communication and free movement could be considered enslaved.

“If the young lady was truly mistreated, why did she remain in the judge’s employment for so long, even before coming to the UK?” the family member wondered.

Prosecution case

On March 10, 2025, the Oxford Crown Court prosecution, led by Caroline Haughey KC, painted Mugambe as an opportunist who used her legal knowledge to manipulate the system for her personal benefit.

Mugambe was consequently convicted on multiple charges, including: facilitating an illegal travel to the UK, exploiting an individual for unpaid labour and conspiring to intimidate a witness.

During the trial, the court was told that Mugambe conspired with former Ugandan Deputy High Commissioner to the UK, John Leonard Mugerwa, to arrange for the woman’s entry into the UK under false pretence.

Could this be an eye-opener?

As Mugambe awaits sentencing on May 2, the case has become a cautionary tale for Ugandans and other Africans living abroad.

How many other professionals could find themselves in a similar situation? Can legal systems effectively distinguish between genuine cases of servitude or other forms of modern slavery and manipulative allegations? Prosecutors said Mugambe made the Ugandan woman work as her maid and provide childcare for free.

The new push to save Justice Mugambe comes in the wake of new allegations that she may have been set up by the maid, who was also a close relative.

It had also emerged that while in the UK, the woman had reportedly been taking the Judge’s children to several local parks within the area they were living in. She reportedly interacted with many of the locals in the area, who she met and they initially thought the children were hers.

However, when it emerged that the children were not hers and that she was only being paid to look after them, some of the locals encouraged her to report the matter that she was being underpaid.

On July 6, 2022, the Supreme Court of the UK issued a landmark judgment on diplomatic immunity and human trafficking, in the case of Basfar versus Wong (2022) UKSC 20. The judgment of the court, delivered by a majority of 3-2, limits diplomatic immunity in cases involving human trafficking, servitude or other forms of modern slavery.

The case concerned an employment dispute between a Philippine domestic worker, Josephine Wong and her employer, Khalid Basfar, who was a diplomat of the mission of Saudi Arabia in the UK. After she escaped from the diplomat’s house, she brought a claim against Basfar for breaches of employment rights.

Basfar applied to have the claim against him struck out on the ground that he has diplomatic immunity.

The court held that the claim brought by the victim fell within the exception from immunity. Therefore, if the Employment Tribunal determines that the allegations are true, Basfar would not have immunity.

What others say

City lawyer Michael Aboneka said there are several ways the Government can help Justice Mugambe.

“It is difficult, but the Government can negotiate a reciprocal arrangement where they exchange prisoners.

That means the UK must have a prisoner here under almost similar circumstances.

Secondly, she can also appeal her sentence, but this depends on the grounds available,” he said.

Perry Arituwa, the executive director of the Women’s Democracy Network-Uganda Chapter, said Justice Mugambe is a human being and can err.

“It’s important to understand the labour laws of other countries, especially when employing domestic staff. As a member of the bench in Uganda, Justice Mugambe has contributed to our country. Just like any human being, she may have erred according to the ruling of the UK Court. She, however, deserves leniency. Uganda can plead for her to serve her sentence here and not in the UK. It’s important that Justice Mugambe is consulted before any decision is made in this regard,” Arituwa added.

Key cases

2020: Justice Lydia Mugambe ruled, ordering the Electoral Commission to permit all adult Ugandans, including those in the diaspora and prisons, to exercise their right to vote.

2017: Justice Lydia Mugambe ordered Mulago Hospital to pay sh85m to a couple, whose other twin went missing soon after delivery.

About Justice Mugambe

Justice Mugambe has been a Judge of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals since May 2023.

She has also been serving as a Judge of the High Court of Uganda since 2013. Previously, she worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), both as legal officer within the chamber’s legal support section (2005-2010) and as appeals counsel within the Appeals and Legal Advisory Division of the ICTR Office of the Prosecutor (2010- 2013).

Earlier in her career, she was a judicial officer within the Ugandan Judiciary (2000-2005).

Mugambe is a member of several professional associations, including the International Association of Women Judges, the East Africa Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association, the Uganda Women Judges’ Association, the Commonwealth Magistrates’ and Judges’ Association and the Oxford Human Rights Hub. She has published and presented on issues of human rights and children’s rights.

Mugambe holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Makerere University, Uganda (1997); a master’s degree in law from the University of Pretoria, South Africa (2002) and a master’s degree in law from Lund University, Sweden (2004).

She was called to the Ugandan bar in 1998 and is currently a doctoral researcher in law at the University of Oxford, UK.